Julie's Reviews: Big Summer

Author: Jennifer Weiner
Series: None
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Publisher: Atria
Pages: 352
Obtained: publisher via Netgalley
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: Female friendships are complicated even in adulthood
Grab, Just get it at the library, or Remove from your TBR list? Grab

Summary: Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn’t spoken one word to Drue in all this time—she doesn’t even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media—so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless. Drue was always the one who had everything—except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne’s no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She’s built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend’s siren song. A sparkling novel about the complexities of female relationships, the pitfalls of living out loud and online, and the resilience of the human heart, Big Summer is a witty, moving story about family, friendship, and figuring out what matters most. ~amazon.com  


Review: What would you do if the person you thought was your best friend scorned you years ago but then shows up back in your life? Would you forgive but not forget? More so, would you stand up in her wedding?!! This is exactly the things that Daphne needs to decide when Drue enters her life again and pretty much just when Daphne was heading in the right direction. Will being in Drue's orbit throw off her plan? Will she get sucked in again?

The answer to that last question is yes, otherwise we wouldn't have a novel. 😀 Daphne is a good hearted person who wants to believe that Drue has changed, but has she really? Even Daphne's good friend Darshi is wondering why she let her back into her life.  As Daphne is thrust in Drue's high flying life and wedding, she begins to understand that things are always what they seem and people have facades. They only show you what they want you to see.

I don't want to get into the details of the story but we all have that one friend who can rope us into their orbit again if they should reappear. Sometimes that's a good thing and sometimes it's not. For Daphne it was a mixed bag. 

What Jennifer always does amazingly well is write colorful characters that we can identify with as women. Our friendships aren't perfect and they are most certainly complex but she gets that and writes about those things. Female friendships are not easy when you ar young but as you get older they can become more complex as your life changes, so does your group of friends. It's not always easy opening yourself up to new people or old people who re-enter your life but sometimes you can get something out of them.